Elio Leoni Sceti

Early life & education

Born in Rome in 1966, Elio Leoni Sceti went to school in Lausanne, Switzerland before returning to Rome to study Economics at Luiss University. After graduating, he completed a postgraduate course in corporate law and tax, finishing top of his class.

Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser

In 1988, he joined Procter & Gamble's French and Italian business as one it its youngest ever brand managers. In 1992, he moved to Reckitt Benckiser as a category manager before becoming global head of category development and innovation in 2001. From 2005 to 2008 he was head of the company’s European division, during which time he developed new variants in Reckitt’s product range, working with brands such as Cillit Bang, Calgon, Finish and Airwick. In total he worked for 16 years at Reckitt Benckiser, in six different countries.

EMI

In July 2008, Elio Leoni Sceti became the CEO of EMI’s recorded music division. He left the position in 2010 to invest in early-stage technology companies, including social TV startup Beamly, of which he became chairman.

Iglo

In May 2013, he became CEO of European frozen food company Iglo Group, the parent company of Iglo, Birds Eye (UK) and Findus (Italy). Later that year, he sought to tie the company’s digital marketing closer to its TV campaigns through increased investment in Facebook and mobile advertising. In November 2013, he unveiled a new growth plan to double Iglo’s sales from €1.6bn in 2012 to €3.2bn in 2020.

Under Elio Leoni Sceti, Iglo launched a refocused marketing strategy in support of this target, aiming to redefine the frozen food category and broaden its appeal beyond its traditional consumer base. As part of this initiative, Elio Leoni Sceti directed Iglo’s efforts towards educating consumers about the benefits of frozen food and how it helps to tackle the pressing issue of food waste.

Leoni Sceti increased Iglo’s focus on both online marketing and retail, stating “we will look to become a leader in multi-channel marketing, and will exploit opportunities wherever a strong market for online ordering provides an opportunity to grow our share of food purchases.” As part of this increased investment and focus on digital, Elio Leoni Sceti appointed a new CMO and specialist head of digital marketing in January 2014. In May 2015 Elio Leoni Sceti oversaw the sale of Iglo Group to Nomad Foods. Following the completion of the deal he stepped down as CEO in June 2015 and became a director of Nomad Foods.

Other positions

Elio Leoni Sceti has been a non-executive board member of beverage and brewing multinational Anheuser-Busch InBev since April 2014. He is co-founder and chairman of The Leoni Sceti Group, a UK-based firm with interests in real estate, private equity and venture capital. He is also a councilor at the non-profit organisation One Young World. Previously Elio was a seed funder and chairman of Beamly, an innovative digital media company sold to Coty, Inc.

Personal life

He is married with four children, each of whom was born in a different European city – Paris, Brussels, Milan and London. In a Times interview in January 2014, he described his approach to leadership as following the maxim, ‘per aspera ad astra et semper ad majora’, (‘through adversity, up to the stars and on to better things’).